National Tide 1980.

Since June, Ning Weimin has started a comfortable and peaceful life in France with his wife and daughter.

They wandered around the small town and countryside of Saint-Tropez during the day, and took their children to the beach to drink water and pick up shells in the afternoon. They also rented a yacht for a boat trip, and lay on the deck of the yacht at night to look up at the stars.

They enjoyed the beautiful scenery of this seaside town to their heart's content.

The narrow cobblestone streets and ancient buildings, the Spanish-style churches and the images of saints and angels on the graystone exteriors, the scent of citrus and lemon trees in the air, and the clear blue sea like sapphire, created an experience for their family of three that was even sweeter and more leisurely than the couple's honeymoon.

Alain Delon is right, France is blessed with unique natural resources, which has given rise to the most wonderful enjoyment in the world.

Especially Saint-Tropez, which is simply the most dazzling pearl on the south coast of France. It is more beautiful than Nice, so wealthy people from all over the world come here to vacation.

The most fortunate thing for Ning Weimin is that he and his family have almost unlimited privileges here.

Not only can they enjoy the fun here, but they can also enjoy the wealth that comes from it.

This year, the price of real estate in Saint-Tropez has quietly risen by 60% compared to when he invested the year before.

Although the increase in real estate prices is not as rapid as in Japan and seems to be a loss, this price is only for ordinary houses in a small town.

No one is selling villas with good locations, large scale and suitable for opening restaurants, and there is no price for them at all.

If Ning Weimin wanted to sell it, even if he offered twice the price, there would be people willing to bid for it.

This is the necessity of seizing scarce resources.

What lies behind this actually reflects that with the increase in the number of tourists, the European economy has improved significantly.

At least the situation in France is much better than in previous years.

So in July, Jinpodii Castle Hotel and Jinyumantang Restaurant opened one after another and both were huge successes.

Especially the Jin Yu Man Tang Restaurant, its popularity is beyond imagination and a bit unexpected.

In fact, both Ning Weimin and Alain Delon have full confidence in the taste of Chinese food.

But because Chinese food is not well-known in France, and there are only a few Chinese restaurants even in Paris, they originally thought it would take time to become famous.

There will be no shortage of customers, after all, it is currently difficult to get a table in St. Tropez, but gaining the recognition of truly wealthy customers and a large number of reservations is another matter.

But we didn’t expect that it would become an instant hit from the day it opened, with customers flocking to it and spreading the word by word of mouth.

Even the local newspaper in the small town praised it highly, and some gourmets even wrote articles to recommend it.

Its popularity is even greater than that of Maxim's restaurant.

So within just a few days, not only were all the tables for the next two months booked out, but Alain Delon even took on several "catering" jobs for hundreds of people from a few wealthy men.

Even customers who have booked rooms at the Jinpodi Castle Hotel have asked him to add Chinese food to the hotel.

Naturally, both Alain Delon and Ning Weimin were ecstatic and extremely relieved by this result.

As for why he showed his face like this?

This is mainly due to Ning Weimin's matchmaking between Tan Palace Restaurant and Maxim's Restaurant, which provided an opportunity for chefs to communicate with each other. Over a long period of time, he has absorbed the strengths of Chinese and French cuisine and summarized many classic dishes that combine Chinese and French cooking techniques.

Moreover, before going abroad, these chefs received several months of French cuisine training at Maxim's Restaurant.

This means that they are good at both Chinese cuisine and understand French cuisine.

Therefore, after coming here, you can choose the best ingredients according to local conditions, formulate a menu that best suits the French taste, and present the authentic taste of Chinese food in the form of French food.

To put it bluntly, the French simply cannot understand the authentic flavor of Chinese food, and there are significant cultural barriers.

In their eyes, Chinese food is extremely complex, with very complicated and difficult to understand symbols.

Even French food critics feel at a loss as to where to start when evaluating Chinese food because they know so little about it.

But in the Jin Yu Man Tang Chinese restaurant in Saint-Tropez, because chef Ning Weimin has had sufficient communication experience and done his homework over the years, their Chinese food can be understood by any French person.

Needless to say, such exoticism is extremely attractive to the French, who like to be pretentious and have a good taste.

Especially for the old rich in Europe, who are not short of money at all, of course they would like to taste the unique meals before others, even if it is just to satisfy their curiosity.

As a result, curious customers soon flocked to the store.

That’s because there was no Tik Tok at that time, otherwise it would have been a definitely internet-famous restaurant.

However, although the operating principles of Chinese restaurants seem simple, it is not so easy to truly rely on one's own strength to the extent that the French can be sincerely satisfied.

The chefs sent by Ning Weimin applied great wisdom and rich experience in this process. It is by no means as simple as simply adding Chinese elements to French cuisine, or presenting Chinese cuisine using French cuisine techniques.

Take roast duck for example. In order to satisfy the rich men in Saint-Tropez, Ning Weimin, who knew how picky "old money" was, specially transferred Yang Feng from Tokyo this time.

Yang Feng is the one who understands the French's views on roast duck best.

As early as when he was running Bian Yi Fang in China, he found that most Westerners would go to great lengths to remove the fat when eating roast duck, and they also didn't like to drink duck soup.

There are even a few people who don't even eat the crispy duck skin and only eat pure lean meat.

why?
It’s because of the differences in eating habits and food culture.

After understanding this, we will also realize that Westerners’ evaluation of traditional roast duck is not as high as we Chinese imagine.

It would be fine if they didn't know how to make rolls, but the key is that they think they spent money on a lot of things they can't eat, and they are very angry.

However, few people know that in the eyes of Chinese people, duck skin and fat are the essence of roast duck.

So after Yang Feng arrived at Tan Gong Restaurant, with the support of Ning Weimin, he made certain improvements to the dining habits of Westerners.

What he did not change was the taste and cooking time of the roast duck, but he made the biggest concession in the dining style and presentation.

When he sliced ​​duck for Westerners, he would remove the fat and put the duck skin on the meat. This move successfully eliminated the cultural gap between Western guests and Chinese food.

This is why in the past few years, Tangong’s roast duck has attracted more foreigners than the other two time-honored roast duck restaurants in Beijing.

This time, when cooking roast duck in a restaurant in Saint-Tropez, Yang Feng made further innovations and upgrades to the way of eating roast duck based on his work experience and personal insights over the past few years.

In addition to sweet bean sauce, he also added plum sauce, French white sauce and white sugar to the roast duck, and added golden cake and celery as side dishes in addition to green onions and cucumbers.

In addition, when the roast duck is served on the table and the chef skillfully slices it with a knife, Yang Feng will not only proactively wrap the lotus leaf pancakes for the guests, but also launch a miniature roast duck sandwich, using bread and a new sauce to neutralize the greasiness of the duck skin while enhancing the crispiness of the duck skin.

As expected, this move not only makes foreigners feel that the service is particularly high-end, but also makes them feel that they can see the processing process on the spot before eating, which gives them a strong sense of ritual.

It also makes the roast duck more pleasing to the eye with a more diverse and richer flavor, successfully winning the favor of both the psychology and taste buds of European guests, especially those with "old money".

The most direct way for these people of status to show their satisfaction is to thank the chef and give him a generous tip.

As a result, the amount of tips at Jin Yumantang was at least twice that of Maxim's restaurant, and Yang Feng became a star in the restaurant, dealing with European celebrities face to face every day and accepting their thanks.

In addition, for the French who cannot do without drinking at every meal, what attracts their attention most, apart from the live roast duck service, is probably the special wine list offered here.

Jin Yu Man Tang’s wine list is divided into three types: full wine list, full tea list, and half wine and half tea list.

In other words, each dish is paired with a matching drink or tea, so that customers can choose one according to their preferences.

This approach has also won the favor of French customers.

They are interested in pairing familiar drinks with exotic meals, or pairing exotic drinks with tea.

This method makes them feel that they are experiencing the fusion of dishes from two different cultures at the same time, which is a particularly wonderful experience.

In addition, if the flavors and ingredients of the dishes are simply superimposed or replaced, it will inevitably create a sense of conflict. Chinese cuisine pursues harmony, the blending of the five flavors, and the perfect unity of form and content.

Ning Weimin’s chefs have also been very successful in this regard. They are even able to use their cooking experience and new ingredients to explore new flavors.

The first meal at Jin Yumantang not only satisfied Ning Weimin’s taste memory from his mother’s womb, but some dishes made with local specialty ingredients also gave him a unique sense of surprise.

For example, the dessert after the main course was a steamed bun in a small steamer, which looked plain and ordinary.

However, just as Ning Weimin was curious about what the filling was, he picked up the newspaper and tore a hole in it with his hands, ready to find out.

What came out of the crack was a familiar yet unfamiliar fragrance accompanied by hot air.

It's... shiitake mushrooms... and... cheese!
That’s right, this ordinary-looking mushroom cheese bun left a deep impression on Ning Weimin.

When he put a small piece of bun with long cheese threads on it into his mouth, he was actually a little disdainful. He thought, can this thing be delicious?
In other words, can this still be called Chinese food?

But in the end, the warm dough was wrapped together with the complex flavor of the filling, and the special combination of mushrooms and blue cheese was a combination of ingredients that Ning Weimin could not believe at all.

One was something he liked and was familiar with, while the other was something he feared the most. Their similar yet unique flavors intertwined together were actually reconciled and sublimated by a warm bun.

You know, that kind of blue cheese is actually the kind of cheese with blue-green mold spots. Ning Weimin once ate a bite of that stuff raw at the strong recommendation of Henri Lacamier.

The feeling of eating a mouthful of wall dust almost made him spit out his food on the spot, and he was afraid of it ever since.

But this time it was different. The fillings wrapped in the buns successfully ended his negative impression, and the harmonious taste even made him a little addicted.

Although it was not the kind of buns he was familiar with, the taste was really good, and not only was he satisfied, but those European old money people were even more satisfied.

You know, many times, the most stubborn part of a person is his taste buds.

Just as it usually takes a gradual process for the Chinese stomach to adapt to authentic French food, the French stomach also has a certain aversion to Chinese food and also needs time to adapt.

Not to mention that it also involves the cultural arrogance of Europeans themselves and the prejudice and contempt they have had towards the ancient Eastern countries for many years.

But this time, the first Chinese restaurant opened in Saint-Tropez seemed to have successfully avoided this process, without causing much dietary contradiction and conflict of cultural concepts. Instead, this restaurant directly became one of the most attractive specialty restaurants in Saint-Tropez and the one and only oriental cuisine restaurant here.

Many European "old money" even tasted authentic Chinese food for the first time through this restaurant.

For Ning Weimin, earning money is the most natural gain.

Just one month after the opening of the Jin Yu Man Tang branch in Saint-Tropez, he made an operating profit that was almost the same as that of the Ginza restaurant in Tokyo, not to mention the share that Alain Delon and the master deserved.

It can be said that this is the most expensive place he has ever seen in his life where Chinese food is sold.

Here, there are no clear price tags for the dishes. A meal for two people, including appetizers, main courses, snacks and desserts, will cost at least 30,000 francs.

He couldn't help but sigh, Alain Delon was really good at slaughtering Europeans, even more cruelly than he slaughtered the Japanese.

It also made him realize that when it comes to spending money, European wealthy people are actually better at making money than the Japanese, it just depends on whether they are willing to do so and whether they feel it is worth it.

Complementing the relationship is the growing reputation and fame.

As many people of status expressed their admiration after tasting the food, more and more professional food critics came here to dine. The rapidly increasing number of positive reviews has, to a certain extent, increased the presence of Chinese food in France.

Due to France's pride in its own cuisine, this country has always had the fewest Chinese restaurants in Europe. Even in Paris, there are only a few Chinese restaurants in the 13th arrondissement, and most of them serve cheap and rough "reformed Chinese food".

The result was really different this time, and many customers of Saint-Tropez reached a new consensus.

They feel that Chinese food is like a dazzling magic. It is not only exquisite and delicious, but also new and novel.

Yes, that's the most interesting thing.

Even though they all received positive reviews, these guests, who were beginning to develop a liking for Chinese food, still couldn't clearly describe what Chinese food was.

Because everyone has different feelings about Chinese food.

Maybe it's spicy, sweet, or sour, strong or light, it may be a peach blossom dish, a fish fillet dish, or rice noodles, noodles, steamed buns, or wontons.

They have eaten Chinese food, but only a few types of food per meal, and their understanding of Chinese food is a typical case of seeing the whole picture through a tube. (End of this chapter)